Information Sharing to Build Localization into All-Hazards Approach to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief

Local and civil society organizations are the bearers of societal memory and retain a permanent presence in communities. In case of a natural or man-made disaster, local stakeholders will not only be the first (and enduring) responders but may also provide external stakeholders with avenues to deliver relief to communities affected by disasters. Those external stakeholders need to have built accountability, trust, and transparent mandates in order to successfully construct a relationship with local stakeholders. It is this relationship that will allow national and global networks mobilized for preparedness and emergency response to do the most good. Information sharing among local, national, and international stakeholders is the foundation of that relationship, and the success or failure of building that relationship will determine the type of engagement external players have with local stakeholders before, during, and after an emergency. Information sharing is thus a keystone to building resilience. Although trust deficits and lack of accountability have disrupted historic disaster responses, more recent disruptions have come from externalities, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which some communities in the Asia–Pacific dealt with natural disasters mostly in isolation and largely in the absence of direct international support due to public health restrictions. There is a breadth of literature on civil-military coordination at the international level, but it is limited at the national and, more importantly, local level. It is our intention to suggest ways to shore-up information sharing shortfalls to ensure that localized preparedness and response benefit from broader community expertise and networks. As disaster management institutions and practices shift toward an “all-hazards” model of preparedness—building functions and practices that address the risks and impacts of various hazards rather than focusing wholly on the facets of specific hazards—information sharing that ensures the centrality of local actors will be ever more important.